'Symmetry' (1966) 10m, dir. Philip Stapp Stapp was one of the greatest animators working in the 1950-1975 era, using stylized, often pointillist abstract imagery, in a floating world sometimes surrealist, at other times reminiscent of Japanese "ukiyo-e" illustration. His spectacular 'Symmetry' is his greatest film, a fantasy of dancing images breaking apart, spinning, and converging. For more information on Stapp, visit: http://www.afana.org/stapp.htm
Reviewer:johnnycroissant
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October 19, 2022 Subject:
Good Stuff!
Hey archivists! I made a music video using this fantastic footage. Maybe you want to give it a spin: https://youtu.be/dn4D8UDaCqg
Reviewer:kerriganm
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March 15, 2017 Subject:
Rather interesting and dynamic short art film
Is it educational? Well, it got a grant from the National Science Foundation or some such, and it informs us at the end that it's intended for education. And I suppose if you don't really understand symmetry and the different ways something can be symmetrical, it is. To me, it was art film exploring the theme of symmetry- that is, it's a silent (no dialogue) film filled with many different symmetrical abstracted formsin motion. There is a lot of movement in the film, which is clever- symmetrical forms tend to feel restful and static, which could make for a boring film. But the symmetrical images reappear again and again. It's not exactly boring, but I didn't feel the need to finish it. The artwork was pretty interesting.
Reviewer:DeadMediaArchive
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August 14, 2014 Subject:
A masterpiece...
...and I don't say that lightly. Using the frame space as if an overhead stage, and interpreting the notion of editing as contained within both the frame and the shot - ala McClaren and Jodoin, Bute, Whitney and the Cornwell's - Stapp makes an-almost-too-beautiful and perfectly harmonized work here. While instructive about its subject, the theme is merely a jump-off point to an endless series of imaginative and even philosophically evocative flourishes. Originally copyrighted by the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, at the end of the epoch of hand-drawn animation. Computers were just then producing similar work, but rarely then or now in so breathtaking a manner.